Wednesday, February 20, 2013

22 Vows (Pratigya) of Ambedkar

Baba Sahib Dr. B.R. Ambedkar embraced Buddhism on 14 October, 1956, the Vijay Dakshami andDassara day. On 15th October again a conversion to Buddhism was heldat the same venue On 16 October 1956, Ambedkar performed another mass religious conversion ceremony at Chanda. After receiving ordination, Ambedkar gave DhammaDikshato his followers. The ceremony included 22 vows given to all new converts afterThree Jewels(The Bhudda, theDharma and The Sangha) and Five Precepts( tostrictly adhere to non violence or Ahinsa, committing no theft,avoidance of sensual (including sexual) misconduct, to always speak truth andto stictly avoidtaking intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness(specifically, drugs and alcohol)

I solemnly declare and affirm that I shall hereafter lead my life according to the principles and teachings of the Buddha and his Dhamma.

Nowadays many Ambedkarite Organizations are working for these 22 vows (i.e. 22 Pratigya). They believe that these vows only are responsible for the existence & rapid growth of present Buddhism in India. According to the 2001 census, there are currently 7.95 million Buddhists in India, at least 5.83 million of whom are Buddhists in Maharashtra[8]. This makes Buddhism the fifth-largest religion in India and 6% of the population of Maharashtra, but less than 1% of the overall population of India.